Reviews

Unreal Tournament III

If you're looking for an intense, entertaining shooter to play on PSN, this is a great bet. The game features all of the great weapons and vehicles from the previous Unreal games, as well as a plenty of new ones (some hit, some miss). The majority of the game modes are pretty standard (Deathmatch, Capture-the-Flag, etc.), but there are two notable exceptions. The first is Duel, which is a one-on-one spectated deathmatch. After one player wins, he goes head-to-head with the next spectator in line.

Essentially taking the place of UT2K4's Onslaught gametype, Warfare is an objective-based game in which two teams must capture and hold nodes that will eventually allow them to attack their enemy's "power core." Both teams have orbs that can instantly capture a node, and nabbing some of the auxiliary nodes can give one the upper hand. It's a fun (if challenging) mode, especially when you're playing with people that know what they're doing.

Speaking of playing with people, this is definitely a game to get only if you have a PSN account or other friends with PS3s, as there's no split-screen mode. The online action is quite good, as both the matchmaking and game joining options work well, and you can even search for keyboard/mouse only games. Our biggest qualm is with the voice chat, which seems to be hit or miss. As is the case with many PS3 games, this one is limited by the lack of centralized servers. All we can say is that we can't wait to check out the features in the upcoming Xbox 360 version.

As was the case with the Unreal 3-powered Gears of War, Unreal Tournament III is an absolute stunner. The level of detail is extremely impressive, as are the animations and character models. Best of all, it runs at at nice, smooth clip for the most part, with occasional exceptions. The audio effects and music are both solid, although even the best audio couldn't help the aforementioned terrible dialogue.

As far as PS3 shooters go, Unreal Tournament III is undoubtedly one of the best. The game looks gorgeous (come on, what did you expect?), runs very smoothly, and features some cool new additions to the series. Sure, the single-player mode is hackneyed and contrived, but the multiplayer action is as good as ever. This is the best console Unreal game to date, and we can't help hoping that it's the start of a beautiful friendship.